BoxRec

Nathan Cleverly: Twitter account that kept on giving sadly no longer gives

It’s been over two years now that everyone in boxing has been forced to live without former world champion Nathan Cleverly and his infamous Twitter account.

In the summer of 2018, WBN waited with anticipation for Cleverly to put out his next social media post.

In June of that year, worried fans speculated whether Cleverly had been hacked as his activity went from the mundane to the ridiculous in a flash.

Eventually, and for a few weeks, the Welshman’s account was one of the most keenly followed in the sport.

The ex-light-heavyweight ruler once famously called himself ‘The King of Wales’ and told his followers to address him as ‘Maximus’ in homage to the movie Gladiator, starring Russell Crowe.

Without a doubt, one of his best efforts was a question which must now be on the cusp of everyone’s lips since.

’Stay humble or become a w*****?’

That summit tweet from Cleverly came on the back of ‘Clev,’ unfollowing all his boxing personnel and switching to just a Bible group.

Then. he began an eyebrow-raising rampage of tweets that nobody could make head nor tail of. Questions were raised as to who was controlling the ALL CAPS tweets.

Whether it was down to Cleverly’s early retirement and was just a phase remains a mystery. Stepping away in August 2017 at the tender age of 30, Cleverly has never spoken openly about his social media or the end of his career.

Not once has he even mentioned a return.

This media blackout could be concerning for some as the usually outspoken Cleverly did entertain during his career, especially with his grudge against Tony Bellew.

Starting his rants with the awesome effort, ‘ANY HATERS OUT THERE YOU BUNCH OF W******?’ – lots of followers had grown to love Cleverly for his balls to say what he felt.



Not to mention the “I am a w*****. I’m sorry’ and ‘I’m the most intelligent fighter on the planet’ follow-ups.

The ‘Unbreakable’ one gave all a belly laugh when he stated how he wanted to be addressed.

‘In future correspondence, can you all please refer to me as The King, please? Thanks in advance. Kindest regards, The King,’

And his ‘I’m the most successful journeyman in boxing. Period.’ Which was his pinned tweet until mentor Enzo Calzaghe sadly passed away in September 2018.

Since his summer of fun, Cleverly offered only two more epic tweets. Both didn’t disappoint.



BRING BACK NATHAN CLEVERLY With posts like that, there’s plenty to miss about the radio silence since.

Bring back ‘The King of Wales!’ – We certainly needed Nathan Cleverly during the pandemic lockdown

The views expressed in this article are that of the Editor, Phil Jay. WBN celebrated its 10th Anniversary on August 1st, 2020, and is the top-visited independent boxing news website in the world.

Must admit his tweets gave me a laugh at the time, although in hindsight it wasn’t very nice to take the piss out of them, he was only recently retired and was clearly struggling with things.

IMAGINE BEING CARRIED TO YOUR CORNER BY BIG OL' TEL BECAUSE YOU CAN'T WALK AFTER TAKING A BEATING AGAINST KOVALEV.

Yeah, I'd be more interested in finding out how Cleverly is getting on in retirement than reminiscing over some amusing yet easily forgotten twitter posts.

Any idea what Clev is up to now?

I hope he is doing OK and these tweets were just him or one of his pals having a laugh.

Shhhh wrote: ↑18 Dec 2020, 13:35 I missed all this. Don’t use twitter. I hope he’s ok too. Did he get into cocaine?

His posts definitely have a coked up vibe, don’t they.

Bit of a pudendum like article that. Online journalism at it's "best".

Some people take social media type musings too serious - whilst others dont take them serious enough. It debatable who is the most odd and bizarre.

he'd be a good subject for one of Tris' boxing life stories

Imagine writing an article about that.

emallini wrote: ↑18 Dec 2020, 17:09 Imagine writing an article about that.

Yeah. "I've got this pitch for where we try and goad a retired boxer who may have been mentally ill a couple of years ago into posting more regrettable tweets"

magnus wrote: ↑18 Dec 2020, 14:49 Bit of a pudendum like article that. Online journalism at it's "best".

Spot on. It’s fvcking ghoulish.

So there was a bloke who used to tweet and now he doesn't

watsupdoc87 wrote: ↑18 Dec 2020, 18:00 So there was a bloke who used to tweet and now he doesn't

Hahahaha. Once there was a man.. etc. The end. Brilliant

Shitty piece of web shite

Huge loss to maths, never mind Twitter

If you look at Clevs career, and to a lesser degree Paul Smith, they have so much to be proud of and it is difficult to criticise them.

99% of boxers would kill for their achievements.

However boxing is about levels and they both seem to think they were better than they were.

Coco wrote: ↑21 Dec 2020, 10:11 If you look at Clevs career, and to a lesser degree Paul Smith, they have so much to be proud of and it is difficult to criticise them.

99% of boxers would kill for their achievements.

However boxing is about levels and they both seem to think they were better than they were.

he hets loads of stick, but i can see completely why paul smith, a two time british champ and world title challenger, gets irked when people who have never been punched in the face try to tell him about boxing. hes always seemed alright to me in interviews. plus he doesn't get the credit he deserved for the AA performance.

When Smith fought Andre ward he was a flabby mess.

forcefraser wrote: ↑21 Dec 2020, 16:17 When Smith fought Andre ward he was a flabby mess.

Wasn’t he overweight? Or was that another one of his opponents?

Steveh583 wrote: ↑21 Dec 2020, 11:46

Coco wrote: ↑21 Dec 2020, 10:11 If you look at Clevs career, and to a lesser degree Paul Smith, they have so much to be proud of and it is difficult to criticise them.

99% of boxers would kill for their achievements.

However boxing is about levels and they both seem to think they were better than they were.

he hets loads of stick, but i can see completely why paul smith, a two time british champ and world title challenger, gets irked when people who have never been punched in the face try to tell him about boxing. hes always seemed alright to me in interviews. plus he doesn't get the credit he deserved for the AA performance.

our boi paul rages on even when ppl arent commenting to him specifically, online he's a total dickhead tbf, no matter what he's like in interview. he doesnt have to get his cock sucked for being british champ either mate

btw...accomplished boxers often come out with the stupidest wackiest crap about boxing, it's a basic fallacy to judge based on the person rather than the actual points they make and it's fair game to call out anyone saying ppl's opinions dont matter cuz they havent done 'as much as i have'

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑21 Dec 2020, 16:24

forcefraser wrote: ↑21 Dec 2020, 16:17 When Smith fought Andre ward he was a flabby mess.

Wasn’t he overweight? Or was that another one of his opponents?

Shamefully so. Was really disappointed that Tris Dixon gave him such a pass over it on Boxing Life Stories. If that had been a foreign fighter showing up like that there would rightly have been a lot of criticism.

Nathan Cleverly posts Instragam clip fans believe is mental health red flag



Another day, another Nathan Cleverly Instagram story hits the headlines as boxing fans of the Welshman reacted to a video posted online.

In the wake of former opponent Sergey Kovalev testing positive for synthetic testosterone – canceling the Russian’s next fight – Cleverly aired a clip on his social media.

The one-minute offering, which Cleverly himself named ‘BIZARRE’ (possibly a nod to the WBN article stating his IG was as such), shows the two-time world champion thrusting in his white fronts.

He’s also whaling ‘I am Russia!’ in a gladiatorial-style effort.

Responses pleaded with Clev to seek out some help. Simultaneously, others chose to laugh off the antics as nothing more than Cleverly being his usual Instagram self.

‘Clev the G’ – as he likes to go by on the platform, the retired boxer posts off-the-wall content that not many can fathom.

This behavior not indicative of the Cleverly we were all used to during his fighting days.

VIDEO HERE

Smoking weed, devoting his life to religion, and stripping off whenever he feels like it has become the norm for how Cleverly portrays his persona on the web.

Locked away with his stunning Russian girlfriend, nobody truly knows the whole story on whether Cleverly is laughing at everyone’s expense or struggling mentally.

Facing criticism on the post in question, Clev’s girlfriend has subsequently deleted her Instagram account.

NATHAN CLEVERLY CONCERN

Whatever the case may be, fans are concerned.

“Horrible to see this. I am sure the family has done all they can, but this won’t end well if somebody doesn’t step in. Sadly happens to too many retired fighters,” said one comment.

Another added: “Never mind Kovalev taking steroids. I think someone else is taking something a bit stronger. Sad to see loved watching you as a boxer as well.”

WBN’s updates have been used by Cleverly on several occasions since we shone the spotlight on the 33-year-old, who attempted to reassure fans by highlighting several passages.

Those posts remain on his dr_clev_g Instagram.

But what’s going on with the ex-two-weight world title challenger nobody one hundred percent knows for sure.

Another sh!t ‘article’, where they can’t even manage to spell Instagram correctly in the headline. Fvck that stupid website.

Coco wrote: ↑21 Dec 2020, 10:11 If you look at Clevs career, and to a lesser degree Paul Smith, they have so much to be proud of and it is difficult to criticise them.

99% of boxers would kill for their achievements.

However boxing is about levels and they both seem to think they were better than they were.

The people that matter respect them.

I`d be more concerned about that websites obsession with Cleverlys mental health - than Cleverleys actual mental health.

He looks to be having a great time at moment. Living the dream some would say. If I had to guess what the bizarre posts on Insta were; Id guess they are nothing more than a wind up .. encouraging that website to go berserk about something meaningless and silly again.